Autumn Sunrise
by bellaXraven
Summary: Sixteen year old Melanie moves to Sleepy Hollow a few months after her friend Billy died in a car accident. The pain of losing one friend allows her to gain another: Abbey. OC/Abbey
1. Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Disclaimer: I do not own The Hollow or any of the characters portrayed in this fanfic. Hope you all like it!

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

I never imagined leaving Calverton, my hometown on Long Island. I never imagined saying good-bye to what ever friends I had back home….I was moving to Sleepy Hollow…that freaked me out a bit.

Even though what they said about Sleepy Hollow is a myth, I still have a feeling that all of the events that occurred all of those years ago are real. I saw the movie. I read the story. I don't care if they say that Ichabod Crane and Katrina Van Tassel are fictional characters. I was convinced that they haunt everyone up there. That's where I was moving. My dad, Malcolm, got a promotion up there and took me, my older brother Matt, my younger brother Mike, and my mom, Maggie, with him.

Matt was going to be a senior, so he was really upset about moving. I felt really bad for him. He was looking forward to graduating with his friends and enjoying his last year of high school with the people he was used to seeing every day. Everyone at Sleepy Hollow High School probably grew up with each other and spent three and a half years together so Matt probably felt like a complete outsider. Now he has to start off fresh for a whole year and then he'll be all alone again when he goes to college next year.

I was going to be a junior, so I at least had a little bit of time to build some form of memories at a new high school. I was still anxious regardless.

Mike had it easier than all of us. He was going to be a freshman so no one was able to tell if he just moved there or not.

The only friends I truly had were Billy and his girlfriend Emma. I introduced them to each other, but Billy died in a car accident and Emma stopped talking to me afterwards because apparently my presence reminded her of "painful memories," so she stopped returning my phone calls. So in a way, I was glad I was moving. My only regret was that I never got the chance to visit Billy at the cemetery before I left. I was going to miss him the most. He was one of my closest friends and the only memory I have of him is the prayer card I took from the wake.

It takes roughly an hour and a half to drive from Calverton to Sleepy Hollow. It felt like I was in the car for six hours.

Once we made it to Sleepy Hollow, we passed by a bridge with police tape blocking it.

_This place is giving me the creeps already. Someone was probably murdered there. Get me out of here..._I thought.

We finally got to our new house in Sleepy Hollow; it was bigger than I expected. The house has two floors and a basement instead of a one story house with no basement back home.

I carried my bags of clothes and my guitar up to my new room: the last door on the right with a window that faced the front lawn. My room was painted red and I put up my band posters despite my mom's protest. She wanted me to have a "clean slate" not only with the people I was going to meet, but with myself as well.  
I arranged the furniture the way I wanted it, I finally got a chance to relax until…

"Melanie!" my mom called, "Dinner's here!"

Since we didn't get a chance to go food shopping, we ordered some Chinese food.

The five of us sat in the dining room. It almost felt like we were home again.

"Remember to get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is a big day for all of us." Dad said.

"I don't know how the hell I'm gonna fit in," Matt finally said. "I was supposed to be graduating back home, not here."

"Honey, I'm sure you'll fit in perfectly," my Mom replied.

_I bet if I said that, Mom wouldn't be so nice_.

"How do you know?" You never moved away a year before you were supposed to be graduating high school."

Dad sighed in exasperation. "I don't know if you got the memo but we're all in a new environment. There is probably someone out there who has it worse. I don't want to hear anymore complaining for the rest of the night."

Matt rolled his eyes. "Whatever…"

Mike and I looked at each other. Even though we didn't say anything, we knew exactly what the other was thinking. We were in for a long week.

That night I tossed and turned in my bed. I turned my iPod on to put on classical music, but to no avail, I couldn't sleep. I scrolled down to Pink Floyd, Billy's favorite band. I listened to "Comfortably Numb" and fell asleep instantly.

*I'll be updating very soon!  
Again, I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING!


	2. Chapter 2: First Day

Disclaimer: Well now, if you're still reading this, I'm glad you like it so far. This is gonna be a bit of a long chapter, so bear with me. Some of the text that was used in this chapter is from some of the chapters from The Hollow Once again, I STILL OWN NOTHING!

Chapter 2: First Day

Mom and Dad were out the door before I was able to shower. Once I was out, I picked out my Joan Jett & The Blackhearts t-shirt, leopard pants and my black Doc Martens that rose to my calves. If Mom and Dad saw me, they would have given me so much hell. I completed my outfit with my leather jacket.

Breakfast with the boys was quiet. Matt had his car so he was our ride to school and back for the rest of the year.

Once we parked in the student parking lot, we took our bags and headed towards the front of the school where everyone was gathered. There was a diverse group of people in front of the entrance: Jocks, cheerleaders, goth kids, some grungy looking kids, some were good looking, some were…well, not so good looking. I wondered if there were any musicians.

The bell rang and we all filed into the entrance of the school. There was a sign that was taped to the wall on my left that directed all of us to the gymnasium for an assembly.

"The gymnasium? There's no auditorium?" I asked.

"I guess this school has a low budget." Mike said.

Metal bleachers have been set up and all of the jocks and the cheerleaders took up the seats in the front, so me, Matt and Mike sat towards the back where the teachers were. We didn't know anyone, so we decided to stick together.

A guy wearing a brown paisley shirt who looked like the principal stood at the podium that was set up in the front of the gym and cleared his throat loud enough to get everyone's attention. Needless to say, that failed.

"You could just yell to get everyone's attention," I sighed. "That's what our old principal did."

Once the noise died down, the principal spoke.

"Welcome back, students and faculty. I trust that everyone had a beneficial and educational summer vacation?

No one responded.

"Before I go over some general rules of the upcoming school year, I wanted to address a recent tragedy that has greatly affected our school and community. As most of you already know, over the summer vacation Kristen Maxwell was involved in a…er…fatal drowning…accident."

_Oh shit...that probably explains the police tape by that bridge..._I thought.

Some people gasped, some people sounded sad, and some people were texting. I didn't even know this Kristen Maxwell chick and I felt awful. It reminded me of when we had that assembly about Billy at the end of last year…

"In light of this terrible event," he continued, "we will have extra grief counselors on hand for anyone who needs help sorting through their grief. They will be available both before and after the lunch period in the guidance counselor's office or this entire week. Please don't hesitate to stop in and see one of them if you feel like you need to talk to someone about this."

_I guess every teacher or principal is obligated to say this. _I thought

"Just remember folks," the Principal got serious, "This is not a "get-out-of-class-free card. The counselors are only to be used by those who legitimately need them."

Right after that, he spoke about how much it was a pleasure to have Kristen as a student in the Sleepy Hollow High School community, the usual things that people say about others who died. Some teachers followed suit.

Suddenly three cheerleader type girls had tears in their eyes and filed their way up to the podium; a tall blonde chick, a brunette, and a short blonde chick.

_So I take it this Kristen Maxwell girl was a popular homecoming queen kind of girl like Laura Palmer from Twin Peaks..._I wondered.

The tall blonde one spoke first and said "We just wanted to say that we can't believe such an awful thing has happened. To lose one of our fellow students at such a young age is so…so…tragic." She sniffled.

The shorter brown haired girl spoke up "The varsity cheer leading team has decided to dedicate this season to memory of Kristen Markell…"

_Wait, wasn't her last name Maxwell? _I thought.

"We will do our best to make sure her memory lives on through all of us." she said with a sniffle.

I heard a snort coming from a row or two behind me. I turned around and saw a pale girl with long curly black hair rolling her eyes, looking really pissed off. Some of the teachers who sat near me and my brothers looked sympathetic towards that black haired girl.

The shorter blonde girl spoke.

"She was just such a good person, you know? I can't believe she's really gone…" and started crying. The other two cheer leader girls hugged her.

Something told me that these cheerleaders really didn't know Kristen. They didn't share any memories about her, or how they met, or anything. At least when we had the vigil for Billy, me and a few others spoke about funny memories and truly showed that he was one of my best friends. I guess no one really knew her.

I heard foot steps echoing through the gymnasium and the doors slammed shut. I noticed the black haired girl left. Something told me that she was really close to this Kristen girl. I felt bad, because I knew exactly how she felt.

Once the bell rang again, we filed out of the gymnasium. I looked at my class schedule and saw that my first class was English. My teacher seemed to be really friendly. My classmates actually seemed excited to be here. Looks like this teacher had a good reputation. I liked him because he didn't make me stand up and talk about myself since I was little miss newbie. He did ask me where I was from, though. Luckily I wasn't the center of attention shortly after that.

Unfortunately my next class after that was science. I sucked at math, so science definitely was not going to be pleasant. I sat somewhat near the front of the class and saw that my teacher's name was Mr. Knickerbocker. I had a feeling I was not going to enjoy seeing him every day.

"Welcome back, students," Mr. Knickerbocker finally said after the bell rang. "I hope your summer was as pleasant as possible. A lot of familiar faces here! Before I go over the class policies, I'll take attendance."

I looked at the clock, and saw it was only 9:05 am. _Can this day drag on ANY longer..._

"Benjamin Bennett?" Mr. Knickerbocker called.

"Here." A friendly looking boy with curly brown hair and brown eyes said while raising his hand up for a moment.

"Would you prefer Ben?"

"Yeah, that's fine with me." Ben smiled.

"Let's see now…" Mr. Knickerbocker cleared his throat. "Abigail Browning?"

I turned around and saw the black haired girl from the assembly.

"It's Abbey," she spoke, "with an E.'

Some of the other students giggled. Abbey rolled her eyes.

I scoffed and rolled my eyes as well. _Wow, what assholes. So she wanted to make something clear. So what? Why would they laugh?_

"Thank you, Miss Browning…" Mr. Knickerbocker sighed. "Umm…Melanie Burke?" He raised an eye brow while saying my name.

"That's me…" I raised my hand.

"I've never seen you before…are you a transfer student?"

I blushed. _Oh god, no. _"Yeah, I just moved here from Long Island…"

"Please, tell us about yourself," Mr. Knickerbocker said as he motioned me to the front of the class.

I sighed, and stood up in front of the class.

"So yeah…umm, I'm Melanie. I'm sixteen, I'm from Long Island…"

"Really? Long Island? You don't have that accent…" A boy with shaggy black hair said while a few others giggled.

"Yeah, I've gotten that before. But uhh, anyways, I play guitar and I sing…My favorite type of music is punk rock and I enjoy going to concerts…and uhh, I hope I can meet some musicians to jam with or just find some people to hang out with…and uhh…"

"Can you, like, sing for us?" A cheerleader asked condescendingly.

"Do you see a guitar in my hand, princess? No." I spat out with a smirk.

The cheerleader sat there in silence. A few others gasped, and some chuckled while Abbey snickered.

"And yeah, I think that will be all. If you wanna get to know me, talk to me." I said as I walked back to my seat.

"Well now…thank you for the introduction, Miss Burke." Said Mr. Knickerbocker. "Alright, where were we…"

After attendance, Mr. Knickerbocker went over the course syllabus, gave us the usual guidelines, the cell phone policy, the lateness policy, blah blah blah.

Once the bell rang, I headed towards the door.

I briefly ran into Matt and Mike on the way to Math. Matt started to fit in with the football players while Mike was getting to know the members of the Yearbook committee. Apparently a girl that he was interested in coaxed him into joining.

And then the awkward moment where lunch period rolled around.

I walked into the cafeteria and saw essentially every table full.

_I doubt these people will dare ask me to sit with them._

I scanned the room and saw that Abbey chick sitting all alone at a table in the corner.

I walked over to her with my brown bag…and…

"Hey…" I said. "Everywhere else is full…do you mind if I…"

Abbey looked up after staring blankly at her plate. "Yeah," she motioned me to sit. "Go ahead."

I sat down and looked at her.

"Hey, you're in my science class, right?" I said.

"Oh yeah, you're the new girl." Abbey said. "I'm sorry Mr. Knickerbocker made you get up there. It must have been really awkward."

I laughed. "Eh, it wasn't so bad…minus that remark the cheerleader girl made."

"Story of my life," Abbey rolled my eyes. "I can't stand them…especially at that assembly for Kristen this morning. I wanted to puke."

"You were close with her, weren't you?" I asked.

"Close with her?" Abbey laughed. "She was my other half. She was the only one who tolerated me and understood me. Now she's gone and now no one understands my situation…" She laid her head down on the table, with her eyes tearing up. "I'm sorry I'm pouring this all on you…"

"What if I said I understood your situation…?" I asked with sympathy in my voice.

Abbey looked up. "You…you do?"

"Yeah…" I said with a smile. "I lost my best friend in a car accident a few months ago…his name was Billy. I practically grew up with the guy, and some asshole drunk driver hit him…Now that I moved, I can never visit him again."

Abbey had sympathy in her eyes. "Oh jeez…I'm so sorry. It's good to know that I'm not alone."

"Yeah…same here. My parents and brothers were no help. And now that I'm here, no one else seems to be friendly enough to say hi to me."

"Yeah, people here are real pricks. Oh, and I really hate how those bitches from this morning acted like they knew Kristen for years, meanwhile they never bothered to say hello to her…" Abbey scoffed.

"Yeah…that was pathetic. Making this tragedy about themselves for their own personal gain…how disgusting."

The bell rang and everyone started to file out of the cafeteria.

"What's your next class?" Abbey asked me.

I browsed my schedule. "History…" I said.

"Aww, bummer, I just had history before." Abbey said as we walked through the hallway.

"Well, I have this study hall thing towards the end of the day."

Abbey smiled. "Awesome! So do I! I guess I'll see you then."

"Yeah, absolutely," I smiled. "Hey, Abbey?"

She turned around. "Yeah?"

"If you ever need someone to talk to…I'm here. I doubt those 'counselors' will be of any help." I said with a smile.

"Thanks, umm..Melanie, was it?"

I nodded.

"I really appreciate it. Awesome shirt, by the way."

From that moment on, I felt like I was truly going to enjoy school this year.

***Hope you liked this chapter. More to come!


	3. Chapter 3: Routines

Chapter 3: Routines

As the first week went on, we finally started to get used to living in Sleepy Hollow. Now that we finally got food shopping done, we felt like we were home again. Dad worked nights so dinners were just me, my mom and my brothers.

"I was at the drug store this afternoon and I heard they were looking for some people to hire," Mom finally said, "You should apply there, Melanie."

"Yeah, I guess I could. Not much is happening over at the school."

"There are no clubs that you could join to put on your resume?" She asked.

"Everything is all academics. Mathletes, Physics club, Spanish club…nothing that reaches out towards the arts or any of my interests."

Matt spoke up. "Mel's right. Unless you're on the football team or in band, everything else is academics."

Mike took a bite. "I joined the yearbook committee…"

"That's great, honey!" Mom exclaimed.

She then turned to me. "Why not make a club? I heard students can create clubs."

"With what friends? I know like, one girl who is in my science class."

Mom stopped. "Who? You never told me you made a friend already!"

"Her name is Abbey, and she's—"

"Abbey who?" She interrupted.

"Browning, I think…"

"I think I met her parents at the town hall! Very nice people…get to know her."

"Will do…" I sighed.

Everything sounded like a demand with her. What if I already intended to be her friend? We have a very…unorthodox relationship. We can be in the same room as one another, but Mom is never truly on the same page as me. Dad too. I never really had a real genuine relationship with either of my parents. I don't enjoy going places with my parents, or having talks with my parents because it's either school or the future; two things that I detest. Nothing is ever good enough for them.

After school, I went to the drug store and got an interview with the store manager. He hired me, and I was scheduled to start working after school the following Friday.

During study hall, Abbey walked in and sat next to me.

"You look really exhausted," I said as I took a sip from my water. "What happened to you?"

"You're never gonna believe this, Mel. The cheerleaders asked me, no, told me that I'm joining the prom committee as an honorary member. Apparently it's to commemorate Kristen's life. Meanwhile those bitches didn't give two shits about her."

I was baffled. "I've never heard of such a thing…honorary member? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Apparently prom plans were made last spring and they're the _official members_ of the prom committee. 'Official' members have been on the committee since the beginning. The 'honorary' member doesn't do anything except for just sitting there and doing nothing. It's a waste of time."

I thought back to prom back at home. "Last spring? But isn't prom at the end of the year?"

Abbey shook her head. "Not here. Prom is next month. On Halloween, to be exact."

"That's whacked. What's the point of having a prom if school JUST started?"

"Don't ask. I just can't believe that I have to go to the meeting tomorrow morning at NINE in the morning."

"That's awful…I'd stab myself if I had to go to school on a Saturday…reminds me of The Breakfast Club…" I laughed.

After the bell rang, Abbey and I exchanged numbers.

"We should hang out sometime," I said. "My parents will finally get off my ass about being 'anti-social' or some shit."

After school, I got a ride to the drug store and began my first night of work. There were some people who were relatively nice customers and were understanding that it was my first day on the job. Others…not so much.

"Hi, how are you?" I said with a smile.

The middle aged lady looked at the shelves of cigarettes behind me. "Yeah, I need two boxes of Winston Light 100's."

_What the hell is that?_

I scanned the top shelf, then the second shelf…

The lady scoffed. "Ugh, it's on the bottom."

I looked towards the bottom shelf.

"It's right in front of you! Are you blind?"

I finally found that brand of cigarettes and gave two packs to her.

"Sorry about that, I don't really smoke…"

The lady just stared at me.

I rang up the two packs and said "Okay, that will be $19.47"

"No, those should be $8.75 a pack. Why are you charging me more?"

"Umm, I'm assuming that those are the prices before tax, and maybe the prices changed? I'm new here, and—"

The lady rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

She gave me a $20 and gave her the change.

"Okay, here's your receipt, and have a good night."

She walked right out the door.

I sighed. The next customer was a boy my age, but looked familiar.

"That lady was a complete bitch, I'm sorry she was so rude to you." The curly brown haired boy said.

"Yeah, I know…did you find everything you're looking…" I stopped mid sentence and recognized the brown haired boy. "Oh hey, you're Ben, right?"

Ben smiled. "Hi, uhh…Melanie, right?"

"Yeah, what brings you here?"

"Eh, just had to pick up some stuff for my Mom. I didn't know you worked here!"

"I actually just started today," I said as I was ringing up items. "Pretty easy stuff."  
"Hey Mel, I was wondering…can I have your number? Maybe we could hang out sometime?" He asked with a smile.

I saw that there was a line behind him. "I actually would, but there's a line behind you. How about I give you my number when my shift ends? Around 10:00? On that note, your total is $28.75."

Ben smiled. "Alright, text me then," He handed me a twenty, a ten, and a piece of paper with his cell number."

"Alright, here's your change, receipt…and have a good night! I'll talk to you later."

Ben smiled. "See you around, Mel."

That night, I sent Ben a text, but no response until the next morning when I woke up around 10 am:

_Sorry I didn't respond to your text last night. I had to go to the Prom Committee meeting this morning so I wasn't awake lol._

I wondered if he met up with Abbey since she had to go to that meeting as well.

_Did you see Abbey? If you did, tell her I said hi!_

As the weeks went on, I finally had set schedules. I became good friends with Abbey and Ben and for the first time since I moved from Calverton, I was genuinely happy.

***More to come!


	4. Chapter 4:Rejections

Disclaimer: Some of the text in this chapter is from some of the chapters of The Hollow. This in no way means that I own anything related to The Hollow. Hope you like it.

Chapter 4: Rejections and Misinterpretations

Prom was roughly a week away and I still didn't have a date. Everyone was getting dates left and right and I was still alone. On Thursday night, my manager from the store called me up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Mel, it's Nick. I got a question for you."

"What's up?"

"I heard the Prom is on Saturday…I hate to ask, but would you mind coming in Saturday night? Everyone called out except for one other person."

I thought for a brief moment. "Yeah, no one asked me anyway, so it's no problem."

"You mean that? Melanie, thank you so much. I'm sorry you don't have a date…so you know what? I'll let you out at 9pm instead of closing at 10pm. Does that sound good?"

"Sure, Nick. I'll see you Saturday night."

The only thing that made me smile the next morning was that it was Friday. Even though mornings with Mr. Knickerbocker put a damper on my day, it was nice seeing Abbey and Ben.

"Hey Abbey," I said. "Are you doing anything this weekend?"

"Yeah, I'm actually going up to my parent's cabin this weekend. I'm not coming back until Sunday night.

"Aww man," I said with a frown. "I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out or something."

"How about next weekend?" Abbey suggested.

"I know I'm working Saturday night—"

Ben frowned. "You're working the night of the prom?"

"Yeah, no one asked me so I might as well get some money."

"I was gonna ask you if you wanted to go with me…"

My eyes widened. _No way...seriously?_ I thought.

I felt bad. Ben was the only guy who actually noticed me and I inadvertently turned him down.

"Aww man, I'm sorry, dude. I feel really bad now…"

Mr. Knickerbocker turned around. "Let's keep the chitter chatter to a minimum, okay Miss Burke?"

"Yeah, sorry."

Mr. Knickerbocker continued to do his lecture when suddenly Ben turned around again.

"It's okay, Mel," he whispered. "I should have asked you sooner."

When the bell rang, Abbey and I walked down the hall.

"How about Friday after school?" I suggested.

"Yeah, we'll go to my place," Abbey smiled. "I don't live that far from the school."

"Cool!" I exclaimed, "I'll let my parents know when I see them later."

The weekend flew by even though I didn't go out much. I wrote a couple of guitar riffs and covered my co-worker's shift.

That following Monday, Abbey looked horrible. It looked like she didn't sleep for days and barely said hi to me in class. I didn't want to say anything until I was truly able to talk to her.

I found her at the lunch table with her head down and her arms folded underneath.

"Hey…" I whispered, "What happened?"

Abbey looked up. "You don't want to know…"

I sat down next to her. "Yes I do. You're my friend…"

Abbey sighed. "First, some guys that those bitches are friends with had the audacity to ask me out to the prom. We never had a conversation before and those guys asked me to the prom because Erika and Shauna asked them to for some personal gain…"

I was disgusted. "I never even had a conversation with them and I hate them already."

"That's not all. Ready for this one? Kristen's body was found in the river—"

My eyes widened. "Wait…I thought—"

"I know. You see, these people assumed she was dead meanwhile her body wasn't even found yet. They took this empty casket and buried it with her name on the tombstone before there was ANY confirmation that she died!" Abbey's eyes started to tear up. "They all gave up on her!"

I hugged her. "I am so sorry, sweetie…why didn't you tell me? I would have believed you…I remember when Billy died… I didn't want to believe—"

"Mel, there's a difference between denial with confirmation of someone's death, and denial of death without proof…"

"I'm sorry…I'm imposing. I didn't mean to offend you."

_Nice going, Mel._

We didn't say anything to each other for the rest of the day. Even during study hall, she just kept her head down the whole time. I listened to my iPod while doing English homework.

I met up with Mike and Matt in front of the school and the three of us walked to Matt's car. Matt was smiling.

"You seem happy," I commented. "What's going on with you?"

"I got a date for the prom on Saturday!" Matt exclaimed. "This cute red haired girl in my history class actually went up to me and asked if I had a date for the prom. I'm so stoked!"

"Well that's good! I'm glad you can enjoy prom…"

"What about you, Mel? Did anyone ask you?"

"Yeah…after I agreed to work that night." I shrugged.

"Meh, the guy was probably a real creep anyway."

"No he isn't!" I frowned. "He's a really nice guy and I feel horrible because he really wanted to go with me."

Mike spoke up. "At least someone asked you!"

"Mike, you're a freshman. No freshman has ever gone to a prom. A freshman guy, at least."

"Shut up, Melanie!"

Matt and I laughed as he unlocked the door and drove us home.

Right before bed, I was jamming to my iPod when my phone began to ring. I immediately thought it was Ben asking me to the prom again, but it was Abbey.

"Hey…" I said quietly. I hoped that she wasn't still mad at me.

"Hey Mel…it's Abbey…"

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. I just wanted to say sorry, that's all."

My mind blanked out for a second. "Sorry for what?"

"I was a complete bitch to you today. I practically shoved you away when all you were doing was being a good friend to me. You didn't deserve that."

"There's no need to apologize. I stuck my foot in my mouth and completely misinterpreted everything you said."

"It's fine. I also wanted to know if you still wanted to hang out Friday after school."

"Of course," I smiled. "I've been looking forward to it all week."

"Okay good," she made a sigh of relief. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya then. Good night."

The next few days dragged on…homework, notes, pop quizzes..the usual garbage. Although we were going to hang out on Friday afternoon, I still got a bad vibe from Abbey during those days. She came to school with purple circles under her eyes and her hair didn't have those neat spiral curls anymore. She looked worn out, lifeless, and exhausted. I was really concerned and worried for her, but I didn't want to say something stupid again. Ben beat me to the punch.

That coming Thursday I went towards my locker and overheard a conversation between Abbey and Ben.

"Hey Abbey. How are you? Are you feeling okay?"

Without a beat; "Perfect."

"You look like you have a cold or something…" he guessed. Apparently purple circles under the eyes meant having a cold.

"Yeah, something like that." She said with pure sarcasm in her voice.

"Look, Abbey," he began, "I know it must suck for you right now, with prom coming up, and hearing the latest news about Kristen. I miss her too, but I know it must be a million times worse for you. And if you totally say no, I understand, but would you like to go with me? I know it's short notice, and we don't have to go as a date. It can be just friend thing. What do you think? In the midst off all this sticky-ness, want to try and have one night of fun? If you're feeling up to it, that is."

I was rooting for Ben. I felt like complete shit for turning him down before he even had the chance to ask me. Since I had work, I really hoped that Abbey would accept his invite so she wouldn't be alone on the night of the prom. But to my dismay, I watched the poor boy get rejected right in front of my eyes.

"Did anyone ask you to do this?" Abbey asked. Since those cheerleader bitches made two or three guys ask her to the prom the other weekend, she definitely assumed he asked her because they made him do it.

"Well, 'ask' isn't really the word…"

_You should have just said no, Ben...what's wrong with you?_ I thought.

"I mean…See, Shana said that some of the girls from the cheering squad were going to mention the fact that you needed a date to some of the guys they knew. But she didn't say it specifically to me. I swear. I only overheard the conversation. I was planning to ask you long before I ever heard them talking about it."

_You just made things so much worse for her, Ben..._ I thought. I was so disappointed. I would have loved to have seen them go, but Ben shouldn't have mentioned anything that those fake assholes did to Abbey.

"So why didn't you ask me before you heard them talking about it?" Abbey hissed with her eyes tearing up.

Ben tried to save himself. "I—I—"

"Sorry, Ben, but I just don't believe you. The answer is no."

"But Abbey, I…lost my nerve." Ben said awkwardly.

Abbey slammed her locker door and walked off towards the girls' bathroom.

"Abbey!" He called out, but she didn't turn around.

I watched my only two friends have it out with each other. _There goes my little niche of friends_…I pretended not to notice what I witnessed until I happened to make eye contact with Ben.

"Hey, buddy…" I said. "You look like something is wrong, are you okay?"

"Just had my second rejection in one week…I'm on a roll." He said.

"I'm still really sorry about that, Ben. I should have told my job that I had to think about working the night of the prom instead of just going in and doing it. I had no idea you were planning on asking me."

"Please don't apologize, Mel." He said as we walked down the hall. "I really should have asked you like, two weeks before."

I put an arm around him. "Abbey will come around. She was upset with me on Monday and she called me up that night to apologize for blowing up on me. It's gonna be okay."

"I hope so." He sighed.

A part of me wanted to go to the girls' bathroom to check up on Abbey, but the last thing she wanted was to have someone impose on her. I realized that people need their space, so I obligingly gave it to her.

MORE TO COME! Thanks for continuing to read this!


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